second, it's the beginning of the process of 1.2 trillion in spending cuts, half of it from the pentagon and the other half on domestic spending. but it would be gradual. if we got to gingrich first with nothing done, congress would still have time to act in both areas before the impact of those policies taking effect. host: economists disagree. years the wall street journal ---- here is the wall street journal. guest: i think there's some basis for that. what is happening in congress, it's dysfunctional, we are using brinksmanship. that's what happened in the debt ceiling fight last august and what happened in the budget debate in december 2011 when we went right up to the midnight hour to determine whether we would keep the lights on in government. it is a function of congress not being able to find common ground and focus on making progress, particularly on the republican side there is a view we cannot have any new revenues as part of any solution. ben has been politically discredited. it cannot work. but there is danger in this. i agree with that. the preferred action is to reach an